The KInd Life Community Forum

Check out http://theplantrx.com/ - Jenna is an MD and might be able to answer your questions about health and nutrition. Tell her I sent you - she loves to help! :)

As for your spouse, I TOTALLY know the feeling. Your absolute, hands-down, best bet is to cook REAL food and don't even mention the V-word. Don't waste your time and energy trying to win him over - there are hundreds of hearty, great-tasting vegan meals that no one will even notice is vegan if you don't call it out.

Here are a few from my website (which I started for girls like us) that have kept my carnivorous husband happy and healthy in spite of himself:

http://sneakyvegan.blogspot.com/2010/11/jamie-olivers-early-autumn-minestrone.html

http://sneakyvegan.blogspot.com/2010/11/sassy-spicy-lentil-soup.html

http://sneakyvegan.blogspot.com/2011/01/rustic-winter-stew-over-polenta.html

Go through your regular cookbooks and pull out all the "regular" recipes that are already vegan or can be easily veganized with a couple of minor changes. You'll find more than you'd expect. Great "sneaky vegan" dishes are 3-bean chili, cottage pie, hearty stir frys, and curry dishes. Look for recipes that use a lot of spices or flavorful ingredients - it's the flavor in carnivorous meals he wants, not necessarily the meat itself. I'll be posting a lot of new ones now that we're back from our honeymoon!

Spend some time putting together a menu plan that will cover a month's worth of vegan meals. It will take some research and planning, but it's a better use of your energy than arguing with your husband. Trust me ;-)

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Rock on! Don't forget, you don't have anyone to answer to. Do what's best for you and go at your own pace. Sounds like you've been through a LOT recently (I can relate to that too) so be kind and don't judge yourself - everyone gets there on their own time.

The most important thing is for you to NOT stress. And make sure you're getting enough sleep. It's a proven fact that sleep deprivation affects blood sugar and wreaks havoc on the hormones that naturally surpress your appetite:

http://www.pr.com/press-release/85473

One last suggestion to keep the peace in the house: no reason to double-up on meals even if you do have to feed your husband some meat once in a while. Make something where the meat can be an ingredient rather than the focal point of the dish. That way you can eat the same thing, but leave the meat out of yours.

If you can spend one weekend day in the kitchen, you can make a bunch of things that freeze well - soups, lasagna, shepherd's pie, pasta sauces - stuff that you can easily defrost on the days where you have to make two different meals. If you have enough freezer space, you can also make double batches so you can freeze both vegan and non-vegan stuff. You might need to use more than one pot sometimes, but at least you can use all the same ingredients - and then you'll have a great excuse to get him to watch the dishes ;-)

The more prepared you are in advance, the easier it will be. Promise!

And congratulations on those 3 pounds, Every little bit helps. Baby steps will get you far.

Make some of these to treat yourself when you need a little happiness in your mouth:

http://sneakyvegan.blogspot.com/2010/12/vanilla-pecan-bourbon-balls.html

They're not exactly diet-friendly, but sometimes just a little bite of sweetness is enough to stave off those feelings of deprivation - and it's way better to eat one of these than a whole cake! (been there, done that. plenty!)

Hang in there and enjoy that new mixer!!!

Like everyone else said, you can definitely get all the nutrients you need with a plant-based diet (if you go full-on vegan, it might be a good idea to take a B vitamin supplement once a week or so). You may have to pay a little more attention, since you won't be eating as many over-processed foods that have nutrients added to them (obviously, not the healthiest way to get nutrients!), but your body will thank you! You'll be eating things that your body can get nutrients from much more easily.

I'm not married, but my suggestion for dealing with your spouse would be to just try not to get too stressed out about it. Keep doing what is best for you, and let yourself be a convincing argument. If he sees that you are getting healthier and happier, he may start to change his perspective. And sometimes people don't know how to deal with a change they don't understand. My boyfriend gave me a hard time at first, but over time he saw that I was serious about it, and now it's not an issue at all.